On March 18, my tax refunds were direct deposited onto TWO Greendot moneycards I purchased at a local CVS. I do not have a bank account and that has always been my personal choice. I requested my refund be split onto two cards so all my bills would be paid off of one and the smaller of the two, the balance, to be my actual spending money. I travel alot with my job and dont have the luxury of being by a computer or fax machine. Relevancy to that being that when I finally received and activated my cards there were no hints or indications that I would have problems using the card.
The only money on them was the original $20 minimum activation fee and then my refunds. I only used the cards once to pay my online tax filing fee through TAXSLAYER.com I have used them over the years with no problems, always using a family members bank account for my direct deposits but this year chose the prepaid GREENDOT for the convenience of paying bills online without withdrawing cash every time from my family's account. The day i received my tax refund March 18, I go to take my kid to dinner and my card is DENIED.
Nevermind the embarassment and my kid asking if Daddy is broke when I actually had a few thousand dollars on both cards. To my surprise I call Greendot who in turn requests NOTARIZED DOCUMENTATION STATING THAT I REQUESTED MY DEPOSITS MADE ONTO MY CARDS ALONG WITH GOVT ISSUED ID, SSN CARD, COPY OF TAX RETURN and so forth. I was like "wow, really?" I waz stold there was nothing that could be done and that this was stated on my paperword for the card that they can refuse and limit my usage at any time.
But HOW can they keep MY MONEY! To make matters worse for myself, I had just recently lost my social security card during my move. I had ID and everything else but even if I had it still think it is shaky that I have to send my PERSONAL, PRIVATE INFORMATION via FAX and was told to wait 10 days for a response. It gets better, I got a letter NOTARIZED, a LEGAL DOCUMENT right? Notary Republics take vows and are SWORN in by judges for this line of business, right? Okay, well, as my luck would have it, I lost my cell phone and WITH NO AVAILABLE LARGE FUNDS to replace it, had to give them my sister's info as well in case I needed to be reached.
I also stated in the NOTARIZED letter because of my joba nd traveling that it was okay to speak to and with my sister in regards to my account. Again, ALL NOTARIZED BY SHOWING MY LEGAL GOVT PICTURE ID which was MANDATORY by the notary. No call, nothing. So my luck gets worse, I get pulled over and apparently forgot I had some old speeding tickets unpaid and there was a warrant for me. So off to jail I go, and NO MONEY TO PAY MY FINES AND/OR BAIL. Nice, right? So, thinking because I have a notarized letter on file allowing my sister to handle this for me if needed, I have her call while I am incarcerated, the operator answering says they cant validate the signature of the notary or read it so its not of any use! REALLY???
All I need is my money that is rightfully mine. I shouldn't have to keep calling, I shouldnt have to explain why I bought two cards or why I need MY MONEY. Its my money. Yes, I was wrong for not paying my tickets, I am only 23, but I wouldn't be in this situation as it is if my money was available to me. How can they do that? On top of, how do we know these people aren't terrorists using our money to fund terrorism and using our personal, private documentation they request from us to do it???
By the way, I wrote this in a letter to my sister to post for me afetr she researched this and read similar issues like mine. I am glad I am not alone, but what can we do to stop this company from doing this? I just NEED MY MONEY. They have everything else linked to me at this point. I promise you this, I will NEVER USE GREENDOT ANYTHING AGAIN. I will just get a paper check from the IRs next time like I do from my job which I hope I still have after this.
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